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On Our Radar

Illinois Tax Increase: Bad News for Business

The following is a press release from SBE Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship.

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A proposal to increase personal-income and individual-capital-gains taxes by 75% in the state of Illinois isn’t sitting well with one small business advocacy group.

According to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, the Illinois proposal would increase the state's personal-income and individual-capital-gains tax rates from 3% to 5.25% (a 75% increase), the corporate-income and capital-gains tax rates from 7.3% to 10.9% (a 49% increase), and the cigarette-excise tax from $1.00 per pack to $1.98 (a 98% jump). The SBE Council is urging The Prairie State’s lawmakers to oppose the tax package, claiming it would severely injure the state’s competitiveness and economic climate and harm entrepreneurs, small businesses and their employees.

“This is a surefire way to chase away capital, entrepreneurial activity and jobs,” said Raymond Keating, SBE Council chief economist. “It’s astoundingly misguided tax policy. For example, if this package is approved Illinois would then have the highest corporate income and corporate gains taxes among the states.”

The SBE Council recently released its “Small Business Survival Index,” which ranks the states and Washington, D.C. from best to worst on their public policy climates for small business owners. Illinois placed 28th on the index, but Keating said if the package were to pass, it could find itself in the bottom 10 states, dropping to at least 41.

“If lawmakers are trying to make Illinois more hostile to entrepreneurship, business, investment and jobs, then this is the route to go,” Keating said. “If not, then this package must be soundly rejected, and instead, lawmakers need to get serious about prioritizing and reducing government spending.”

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SBE Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit www.sbecouncil.org.